The ZOA of Greater Philadelphia is the preeminent local organization publicly advocating on behalf of Israel.
In May 2003, ZOA-GPD was instrumental in bringing to the attention of the general public the shameful intent on the part of the University of Pennsylvania to award an honorary degree upon Bishop Desmond Tutu. While Bishop Tutu is viewed by most to be an anti-apartheid "hero", it is less well-known that he has a scandalous history of anti-Israel statements. Although the student newspaper, the Daily Pennsylvanian, refused to let ZOA print an ad detailing these statements, ZOA-GPD peacefully protested this disgraceful ceremony and was able to educate parents and alumni of Tutu's stance against Israel.
In August 2003, ZOA-GPD led a memorial service at Congregation Mikveh Israel. Philadelphia to honor the memory of victims of a homicide bomb attack on a bus in Jerusalem. Nearly 100 Jewish communal leaders, city officials, and member of the Israeli consulate attended the hastily called event.
In November 2003, ZOA-GPD spearheaded a demonstration in front of the Israeli Consulate to support Israel's right to build a security fence to protect its citizens. Through our efforts, members of the Jewish Community Relations Council and American Jewish Committee joined with us, showing their solidarity with this cause.
The ZOA of Greater Philadelphia has time and time again been at the forefront of confronting biased and false reporting on Israel and the Middle East as seen and heard in our local media outlets.
In April, 2004, we began "The ZOA Middle East Report," a groundbreaking effort to get the true stories about Israel out to a radio audience. The show, which broadcasts every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on 1540 AM WNWR Radio helps set the record straight and brings the listening public news and commentary they will not find on any other station in our area. Our guests have included former Ambassador Dore Gold; columnists Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post and Steven Plaut; feminist scholar Phyllis Chesler, novelist Jack Engelhard; national security expert Frank Gaffney; Middle East expert Dr. Daniel Pipes; and U.N. watchdog Anne Bayefsky.
In 2002 and 2003 ZOA-GPD issued three authoritative reports documenting the repeated demonstration of anti-Israel bias in the pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer. All three reports -- The Philadelphia Inquirer: Anti-Israel Bias, the Evidence and Its Consequences, The Philadelphia Inquirer's Campaign Against Israel -- A 100-Day-Study, and A New Era, But the Same Errors: The Philadelphia Inquirer's Coverage of Israel and the Middle East During the First 60 Days of the Amanda Bennett Era -- will be available online shortly. ZOA-GPD has also encapsulated its findings in a multimedia presentation -- The Philadelphia Inquirer: Balance or Bias? currently available for presentation at organizational meetings. It too will be available online shortly.
In summer 2003, ZOA-GPD led a demonstration of more than 100 people in front of the Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. building to protest the Inquirer's continued anti-Israel bias. We also held a news conference, covered by four local TV stations, calling on the Philadelphia Inquirer to apologize for cartoonist Tony Auth's depiction of Israel's proposed security fence as a concentration camp in the shape of a Star of David. ZOA-GPD exposed this drawing's antecedents in a similar Nazi-era cartoon and brought this shameful exercise in Israel-bashing to national attention.
Officers of ZOA-GPD have met on numerous occasions with management of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Daily News and WHYY Radio. Although substantive changes in their policies and reporting are still forthcoming, ZOA-GPD has put them on notice that their biases and falsehoods are being monitored and publicized.
The ZOA of Greater Philadelphia partners with local and national officials to ensure they understand the complexities of the Middle East and Israel's special role as America's one, true democratic ally in the region.
Very few Americans are aware that Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat ordered the murder of two American diplomats in the Sudan in the early 1970s. Steve Feldman, ZOA-GPD Executive Director, drafted a statement detailing this crime which was read on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, D-N.J. and later published in the Congressional Record.
Due to the urgings of ZOA-GPD members, Gov. Ed Rendell canceled a planned speech to two Muslim groups linked to terrorism.
Every year ZOA-GPD sends one of the largest delegations to the ZOA Annual Washington Mission. We visit each of our local representatives and urge them to sponsor or vote for a variety of pro-Israel legislation. The "Mission" is another vehicle for helping us to cultivate relationships with important policy-makers.
Education
The ZOA of Greater Philadelphia works tirelessly to educate the general public, as well as school-age children, about Israel, Zionism and the Middle East.
In spring 2004 ZOA-GPD launched a successful pilot program at Haverford High School in suburban Delaware County that offered high school students a ZOA perspective on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
During the winter of 2002-2003, ZOA-GPD was instrumental in addressing blatantly anti-Israel portions of curriculum materials that were being distributed throughout the Philadelphia School District. As a result of our meeting with Philadelphia School District CEO Paul Vallas, additional materials and explanatory letters to mitigate the problem were sent out to teachers.
ZOA-GPD is also building bridges on the local college campuses, trying to explain it positions and provide "informational ammunition" to students at-risk in the highly politicized and frequently anti-Israel local halls of academia.
